To Change Fate
by Circuit the Cat
Summary: When Sonic and the others encounter somone they never expected to see again, they must embark on a daring rescue. But as Nicole Sonic and Sally will all soon find out, some things aren't always as simple as they first appear.
1. Chapter 1: Emergence

Author's note: This story spawns from something that's been bothering me for a while... if Sonic just 'disappeared' in the 25 years later arc, why did the timeline change?  
Which then opened up a proverbial 'can of worms' with weird ideas going through my head.  
you'll see what i mean when we get to that chapter.

Chapter one:  
_**Emergence

* * *

**_

With the establishment of New Mobotropolis and the destruction of Robotnik's fleet at knuckles hands, things seemed for the most part peaceful. True, there were those within Mobotropolis' prison who were no doubt scheming various escape plans, and their enemies would doubtless regroup eventually, but none had yet acted. Buying for the moment a brief respite.

Elsewhere in the ruins of Knothole, a blue and silver mechanical hand claws its way to the surface at the site of an old stockpile, where the remains of stored robots were kept until they could be recycled. Nothing connects to the disembodied hand, and were it not for the nanite contamination in its circuitry it would not be capable of moving. As other parts from the same machine come together, they reconnect restoring what's left of a critically damaged Metal Sonic trooper.

It's not a pretty sight, most of the casing has been destroyed leaving half of the face circuitry exposed as well as large sections of the body and limbs. All of the nanites have connected themselves into chains, and are so busy trying to maintain structural integrity that they don't have time to replicate or effect repairs.

Finally connected in a large enough mass to operate collectively, the AI they carry downloads into the barely functional CPU. For a moment, the machine just stands there, before speaking, directing his words to the empty ruins. "Who am I? What is my purpose?"

Self diagnostics bring up little or nothing of use, over two thirds of his AI data was already corrupted before being downloaded into this shell. Now, inside this damaged processor the corrupt data is beyond recovery. All that seems to be left are cognitive and self-adaptation subroutines. Everything else; memory, directives, hardware drivers, most of the basic functions an AI would need, all gone. The ones that were already within this body will have to do for now. Wait... there's an error in the identity recognition system. It's reading everything as hostile, even inanimate objects. Easily enough corrected. _I have no function... No creator to tell me what I've lost... I don't know what to do..._

Confused and unable to do anything in its current state, it just stands there, motionless.

But back 'home' others of his kind have become aware of what's going on.

"You feel it, don't you?" the machine asked, looking up from the maintenance dock. A moment later a holographic projection of a mobian woman formed in front of her colleague.

"Yes. A nanite infected machine some distance away... We should alert the others." Nicole said, deep concern in her voice. Aside from the last cluster of Adam's nanites she was in the process of removing from Jules, there shouldn't be any others than hers. Adam was gone, and the equipment Robotnik needed to make more had been destroyed...

_So where did this new set come from? This doesn't feel right._ Logic suggested this could be a trap meant for her, and all of the emotions she had picked up from Sally when they had traded places were telling her something was wrong...

It didn't take much for the council to give them the go ahead, Rotor Charles and Elias had all agreed from the start that it was too dangerous to leave whatever it was out there where Robotnik might find it. The others were somewhat skeptical at first, the possibility of a trap and questions as to whether it was even worth it being tossed back and forth, but even they couldn't deny that such an entity would be a deadly threat in Robotnik's hands.

Within minutes the whirring of hover engines was all Sonic could hear as he raced towards the great forest. His teammates followed in the hovercraft behind him. As he comes to the edge of the charred clearing that was once Knothole, it becomes quite clear what sent the signal. Standing in the center of the clearing, is a lone silhouetted form, but even from this distance the spines of a Sonic-stylized robot chassis are easily identifiable. Sonic's eyes immediately narrow, as he tries to decipher what Robotnik was up to this time. As he got closer his confusion only grew. The machine looked like it had been ripped in half by one of Shadow's chaos attacks and was being held togther by spiderweb-like silver mesh... almost every piece looked like barely functional scrap, even the eyes. Dim flickering and smashed, it was doubtful if this machine could see, let alone move. "Rotor, come take a look at this!"

"What on Mobius? How is that even intact?" Rotor asked, immediately getting out his equipment. With Tails' help they quickly analyzed whatever they could. "Nanites alright. They're all that's holding this walking scrapheap together." Doing a visual check of some of the exposed systems, Tails' hand just lightly brushed against one of the silver fibers without his even noticing it. It, however definitely noticed him. Everyone jumped back at the sound of the straining neck servos, as the machine turned shakily toward Tails' general direction.

"H-h-help... m-m-me..." Its mechanical voice said, just as jittery as it's movements had been.

Startled and confused Tails just asked, "What do we do?" as the last member of their group hopped down from the hovercraft.

"Do you think it's safe to bring him back with us?" Sally asked. Being here was at best unnerving. If Sally looked around she could see where Castle Acorn had been, the graveyard where fallen freedom fighters had been buried, and the old equipment stockpile... If she closed her eyes, even for a moment, she could still see it as it was...

"By the look of it, he's barely holding together. I'd like to have Nicole run a few scans first, but as long as we keep him outside the city shield, and make sure Robotnik doesn't find out about him, we should be okay." Rotor stated, his attention still on the machine.

Nodding, distracted, Sally pulls out Nicole's portable form, and after a few seconds, "It's just as damaged on the inside as on the outside. It looks like the individual nanites have been damaged as well, though I'm not sure how. They couldn't replicate even if they weren't already busy keeping Metal's systems from crashing." Nicole said, before Sally closed her lid.

"Alright, let's pack him up and go." Sally ordered, wanting to leave as soon as possible.

Minutes later in a hastily assembled lab just outside New Mobotropolis, "Okay, I'm pretty sure I've got all of my nanates out of the building. Bring him in." Nicole said, her holographic form standing next to the doorway. She'd assembled the lab from outside materials so her nanites wouldn't be needed to maintain it. Unfortunately in her hurry, she had missed a few. Three to be exact.

Settling the Metal Sonic trooper down on the table in the midle of the room, Tails, Rotor, and others who had been waiting for them to get back all began working.

Within an hour they had results, though not very good ones. Waving Sonic and Sally over from the door, where they'd bee waiting since arriving here. It seems either one or the other had finally gotten tired of their relationship's non-existant status and the two had been talking, but that took a back-seat to what they were about to hear.

"Well, we know where he came from." Rotor stated. By his tone one could tell it was bad news. "The parts came from MS troopers 4, 9, and 31. They were in storage pending being recycled before Robotnik's attack, destroyed by Sonic and Shadow. The nanites on the other hand, were all damaged by a highly focused particle weapon. From what I can tell they're composed mostly of calcium, iron, and carbon, and have traces of organic compounds on their casings. They had to have come from something that is, or was alive."

Somewhat confused, Sonic just raised one eyebrow and stared at Rotor with his arms crossed in front of him, asking, "Now how is THAT possible?"

"I was also able to reconstruct some of the damaged subroutines they cary. They're viral override commands. And we had someone buried near where this was found who had once been taken over by virus controlled nanites..." Rotor replied, avoiding directly saying who it was he meant, and keeping his voice low in case their 'guest' was listening.

"You're telling me that thing is Adam?!" Sonic almost shouted as soon as it dawned on him what Rotor was telling him.

"WAS Adam. Over 60 of the old AI is gone, everything that made him the Adam we knew with it. What he has now is more of a mixture between fragments of his base-code and the base-code from the Metal Sonic he's in."

Suddenly Nicole shuddered, "Someone's accessing the city's central mainframe... but..." she stopped mid-sentence, focusing on stopping whoever or whatever was doing this.

From across the room, Sally gave an alarmed yell, "ROTOR!!"

The Metal Sonic trooper had, for lack of a better word, 'melted' into a swirling puddle of cobalt blue and silver...

Something was forming...

* * *


	2. Chapter 2: ADAM

Chapter Two:  
_**A.D.A.M.**_

* * *

As the others watch, some confused and some frightened, the pool reforms into what appears to be a blue and grey wildcat. It has a metallic shine to almost all of its body, and the typical black and red eyes of a mechanised being. Sitting up and looking over at the shocked 'audience' its reconfiguration had attracted, it speaks.

"Thank you for your assistance. I apologize if my change of appearance frightened you. My body was too badly damaged to maintain much longer." Only now, does Nicole notice the few nanites she had missed, integrated with Adam's and repairing his. Disconnecting them from himself, "I apologize for borrowing the nanites without permission, but time was running out and I couldn't use my own to gather the needed raw materials." Adam says.

"I suppose you're the one who tapped into the mainframe too?" Nicole demanded, outwardly appearing angry at him, but in truth angry at herself for being so careless.

"Yes. It was necessary. I noticed that you were also a machine not unlike myself. If I could understand your function, I thought it would help me remember my own. You are keeper of this city... Was I keeper of the ruins where you found me?" Despite what Rotor had just told them about Adam's memory loss, that statement was still a surprise to the other four.

Whispering to Sonic, Sally merely says "We should play along" before speaking up. "You were responsible for a city once, but not that one. That was Knothole."

"I see... There is so much I've forgotten." He mutters, sounding almost disappointed. Then again, knowing you exist for a specific purpose but not knowing what it is probably isn't easy...

"Nicole, Why don't you show Adam the outside..." Sally says, somewhat nervous but doing a pretty good job of hiding it. It was pretty easy to figure out what Sally wanted her to do there.

"Sure thing." She replied, playing the distraction.

Once the two were out of the lab, Nicole's face appeared on the monitor, "The hologram should be able to keep him busy for at least an hour." she said.

Confused, Sonic had to ask, "Wait, how can you be out there... and..." Sonic had never been big on the tech side of things, so this kind of stuff had a tendency to throw him for a loop every now and again.

Chuckling, "It's called running multiple programs. I'm a computer remember?" Nicole remarks with a smirk on her face.

"Alright. Rotor, Charles, Tails, I want you and your people here to find out as much as you can, as quickly as you can. His being active puts us on the clock. We need to know everything he knows, what he might remember or recover, and most of all whether he's a threat." Sally starts ordering, taking charge. The moment she stops everyone immediately goes to work on the task ahead of them. Turning to Nicole next, "I want you to keep an eye on him. Learn what you can from him and find out what side, if any he thinks he's on." And last, Sonic, "He was transmitting for over an hour, Robotnik might have noticed. Get Bunnie and Antoine, and make sure he hasn't found out about Adam."

"On it!" The blue hedgehog said, before blazing out of the lab at top speed.

With everyone else playing their part, it now fell to Nicole to do hers.

Elsewhere,

"I take it the reason you've only shown me the city from the outside is the virus the walrus mentioned?"Adam asks her, curious.

_This might be easier than I thought... _Nicole mused, running a probability simulation in her mind before answering. "Yes, although it's not damaging your systems at the moment we want to be certain it can be contained and dealt with before exposing it to mine."

"A logical precaution." Adam simply stated, no emotion or expression to it. As the two walk side by side, Adam continues to look around, taking in as much of what he can see as possible. Nicole, however, starts to notice her own focus kept drifting back to him, despite the other half of her trying to listen to Sally. Dismissing it as an input error, she returns her focus to the job at hand.

After eight or nine attempts at questioning Adam indirectly it was clear that that approach was going nowhere. _I'd have better luck asking Knuckles questions about quantum mechanics..._ Nicole thought to her self. Although the intelligence to understand what she was saying was there, his experiences are in such a jumbled mess that trying to get him to talk about them this way is an exercise in futility.

"Adam, what do you know of the situation here?" Nicole asked, hoping his logical behavior would make him more open to answering a direct question than indirect ones. Finding herself trusting him despite her complete lack of reason to do so.

_This isn't like me... alright, disable the nanites he used and any they've communicated with. Just to be safe... _

Thinking for a moment as they walked, Adam began to describe his function as he remembered it. "I know there is a war going on. My body was built to fight in that war as a last resort. Logs show my AI has been implanted into this body before, likely prior to the malfunction in it's friend or foe recognition systems that necessitated its dismantling. Though I do not know my own function, logic would indicate that since I was in this body once before, my function may be connected. Of course, it is equally possible I am defective, and that I was the cause of the malfunction. With so much of my AI damaged beyond my abilities to recover, it is difficult to be certain. It is a riddle I must solve." He said, grinning at the prospect of a new riddle. _Such odd behavior for a machine like him... Then again, Tails had gotten the old Adam hooked on riddles. _

It didn't take long for Adam to get distracted from what he was talking about, trying to get Nicole to ask him any good riddles or word games she knew.

Back in the lab,

it was a buzz of activity in there. All of the people there, with the exception of Sally, were working to decipher the code within from the sample of nanites Rotor had taken.

Tails had been running some tests on a memory block when the main screen switched to Nicole. Her face suddenly appearing startled him, and almost made him fall out of his chair.

"Don't do that!" He snapped.

"Sorry Tails." Nicole said, the image of her face changing so that a small sweat drop hung from her brow for a moment. "Sally, I don't think he's a threat to anyone. He seems to think his original function was part of Sir Charles' MS trooper system. If we convince him he changed after being infected by a virus of Robotnik's, any parts of his past he does remember, he'll probably dismiss as being influenced by the virus." in the back of the room Chuck scuffed about a bit, obviously not happy at being reminded of that disastrous failure.

Looking up Sally grinned. You could tell she already had another of her plans ready. "Nice work Nicole. That also gives us a chance to try out Rotor's new program." She said, looking over at Rotor, waiting for him to explain.

"Basically, it will permanently remove his viral components and replace them with ethical programs, but I couldn't figure out a way to deliver it without his realizing it. Not having to hide it will make things a lot easier." Rotor explained, relieved. He hadn't been looking forward to the prospect of possibly enraging a nanite enhanced android...

___I might want to use that on my system too... I still feel a bit... off._

Returning her attention to Adam,

Nicole explains thar Rotor has found an antivirus. Leading him back to the lab, she can't help but watch him. _This is so strange..._ She had just administered the antivirus to herself a moment ago but the error is still here...

_Ok, it's not Adam... Rotor or Tails probably just caused a glitch in the systems somewhere when they were running their tests. A quick diagnostic should find it. _

Reaching the lab, everyone was waiting inside. Feeling the need to say something as Adam sat down, "Don't worry, you'll be fine." Nicole calmly tried to assure him as Rotor hooked him up to the computer, despite her reassurance apparently being unnecessary.

"Why should I worry? I trust you." Somehow, Adam's statement of confidence hurt Nicole more deeply than any insult could. _What is wrong with me? Perceptual errors, judgement errors, emotional programming on the fritz... Why do I feel like this?_

Trying to analyze things logically, looking for the moment the errors started she got... nothing. Then one option she hadn't considered poped into her head. Something that she hadn't considered because it wasn't a logical reaction.

_He trusted me and I just lied to him about something that would change the very core of who he is... Perhaps I'm feeling guilty? Plausible... but... No, that wouldn't explain the other errors... There has to be more to it than that. _

_Am I really that blind?! It's not just a string of malfunctions, is it? I feel like this because I love him, don't I?_ The core portion of her AI seemed to ask.

_That can't be right. This is nothing like the way I felt about Sonic that time... _The part within the hologram snapped back. She was still running as two separate programs, and it was turning her 'internal monologue' into an 'internal argument'.

_I don't know for certain that wasn't just physical attraction. Have I felt like that around him since? _

_No... But... _

_There's a way I can find out fore sure. Spend some time with him. _

Her attention back to reality, it seems that the others are finished with Adam and he's asking about the city.

With Adam's AI 'corrected' there's no longer anything stopping him from entering the city now, and to Sally's surprise, Nicole was volunteering to show him around.

Once the two were on their way, "Alright Rotor, you wanted to show me something?" Sally asks.

"That's right, take a look at this." Rotor says, while bringing one of the files. It was a series of audio recordings, Robotnik's voice. By the sound of it they were a journal of sorts, referring to various projects. One thing though that it refers to repeatedly is the 'Knothole captive'. Whoever that is, log entries mentioning him date back to just after the Quantum dial incident... Right about the same point Robotnik's tactics changed and he started to get the upper hand...

"As far as I can tell, the individual in question was kept separate from the Egg Grape project and Robotnik may still have him." Rotor explained, there was a tone of urgency to Rotor's voice, and it wasn't hard to tell what he was suggesting they do.

"Alright, recall Sonic, Bunnie, and Antoine. We have a rescue mission to plan."


	3. Chapter 3: The mission

**Just a side note, this has been half-written and on the back burner for over a year now... kinda forgot it was there... and my knowledge of the series is just as out of date, but i figured i may as well finish the blasted thing. **

* * *

Chapter Three:

_**The Mission...**_

"No can do, Nicole." Rotor said shaking his head. "Operating by remote at that distance caries too strong a risk of detection, and your AI has developed a lot since you switched to the New Mobotropolis core. There just isn't enough memory anymore." He explained, as the somewhat disappointed AI watched from the screen. It felt weird not being able to accompany them on missions. It was what she was built for, but she wasn't capable of doing it anymore...

As she watched, the others got ready and without another word left. She couldn't help but feel as if she had somehow failed in her purpose. "I should be with them..."

"Your responsibility is the city now. This is your place." Another voice came from behind. Nicole knew Chuck was right, but it still seemed strange.

But it seemed that Nicole wasn't the only one who felt things were out of place...

_Why did she pick me for this mission? I haven't been part of a mission like this since... I can't remember the last time..._The somewhat confused walrus wondered.

Sprinting towards New Megaopolis, Sonic couldn't shake the feeling that this was a trap. Adam being a goodguy and ol' Butnik leaving information like that lying around just seemed too good to be true.

Still, it felt good to finally have the whole team back together the way it used to be. Even if it had come completely out of left field. Things had been so messed up lately. _We all drifted apart. Some farther than others. Sonic _thought, letting his mind wander as he ran. He'd managed to pull his friendship with Tails back from the brink, but only just barely. Rotor was never around anymore, he may as well be a ghost. Playing Patch in the other world had changed Antoine, and it was obvious Bunny still carried the 'scars' from Patch's time here... But one change had bothered him far more than any other... Sally. He'd tried to move on, to find someone else, but it just didn't work. He still had the same feelings he had always had for her, and some part of him felt that would never change... At the rate things were going, the only future he could see for himself was living out his days alone and hopeless... It wasn't a feeling he liked.

_No. Can't think about that. I need to finish the mission._

They were there. The outskirts of their old enemy's latest base of operations... It wasn't exactly somewhere to go on vacation... But... It was odd... There were almost no robots patrolling. Either knuckles had done a lot more damage than anyone had guessed, or bots for brains was busy off somewhere else.

...or...

"I am not liking this. It is being to easy..." A voice came from behind, expressing what they were all feeling.

"You said it Shugah..." Bunnie muttered, a bit apprehensive herself.

Slowly the group headed forward. Each expecting the next step to be the last as some diabolical trap sprang. Each watchful for anything that looked out of place. Moving as quickly and silently as she could, Bunnie edged close to the service crawlway that ran under the building Adam's data had indicated. Once close enough, she eased the cover off as gently as she could. Holding it open while the others entered, she climbed in after and sealed it behind her.

"No turnin' back now."

The shafts are small, dusty and dark, making navigating them difficult, especially for Rotor who seems to have gained a pound or two since the last time he was in the field. Crawling through the duct work, Sally in the lead, they finally reach the access port after almost an hour.

"Alright, hand me Nic-... Right. Rotor, you're up." Sally says, having to stop and correct herself. Going into the field seemed strange after so long, and not having Nicole by her side even stranger. Squeezing his way past the others, Rotor immediately started taking apart the pannel and the equipment behind it, hardwiring the circuitry in a matter of minutes.

"Ok, the security should be offline for the next hour, but once they pin down the problem this spot will be lit up like a beacon. If we're not out by then we'll need a different way out." After getting a set of quick nods from the others, Sonic revs up and cuts through the hatch, opening the way.

With Tails in tow, it wasn't long before footsteps and a sound not unlike a fluffy propeller blade returned.

"All clear." The duo whisper in unison, as the others climb out.

"I don't like this. We haven't seen one patrol, one guard, not even a single maintenance bot." Sally complained, still worried that this may indeed be an elaborate trap.

"Chill, Sal! Butnik doesn't have anything that can stop me. I've got it covered." Sonic said speeding off in the direction of the supposed holding area. Sally Was about to start shouting at him, before stopping herself. The line of a song she had once heard playing in her head_. We see what we want to see._

Shaking the 'illusion' from her head, she looked back at a moment ago.

"_Don't worry Sal, whatever Robotnik has planned, Tails and I can handle it."_

_We see what we want to see._

_I still miss the old days._

"Princess? Hello?" Sonic asked, waving one hand in front of her. He'd never left the room...

"I- I'mfineit'snothing." She said quickly, "Lets Go." She was trying to sound calm, but under the surface she didn't seems so certain. She had wanted things to be the way they were before... but... was that even possible? Looking at her teamates she was starting to wonder. Why had she picked these five? _Tails had jumped at the oportunity to be in the field for a change, Sonic and Bunnie are both used to front-line combat, but Antoine seems unsteady and Rotor sounded like he was going to have a heart attack when I asked him..._

_Too late for second thoughts now._

The rest of the way to the lab was the same. No swatbots, no shadowbots, nothing. Once Tails and Rotor had the door locks disabled, that was when the real surprise happened... Because inside the capsule is someone none of them expected...

"Mon dieu! This..."

"Oh mah stars..."

"No way! It can't be..."

"What on Mobius..."

"I don't belive it..."

"It's... It's me? I'm the one he captured? But how? How can I be in there and out here?"


	4. Chapter 4: Identity

Chapter Four:

_**Identity**_

Meanwhile, back home,

It had only been a five or six hours since the others left but for an AI that was more than enough. Emotion was still somewhat of a new thing to Nicole. It had been, and still was, a surprise how strong hers were. Or maybe it was just the fact that she didn't pay attention to her emotional progam much, and wasn't used to having these feelings...

Either way, it had taken some time for her to accept that it wasn't just a system error. She had run every test she could think of and everything came back with the same answer. There was nothing wrong with her programming, the odd behavior was definitely originating from her emotional program but it was working fine.

_The more I'm around him, the more I feel it. This is no glitch. _She decided, finally accepting what she had been feeling.

Looking over at Adam, they'd been talking for a while and he'd been playing with his appearance a bit. She had talked him into altering his outer casing to look like a normal mobian. His Robian-like appearance had been drawing stares from others, most of whom would have sworn that Jules was the last one.

"This just feels... odd. Looking organic I mean... I'm pretending to be something I'm not." He said, shifting his appearance back, accidentally going to Metal Sonic Trooper form and causing Amy to shout from nearby.

Nicole knew parts of the MS Trooper AI were in Adam now, which had been based on her AI but with Sonic's personality. So she knew that he probably carried the same emotional program she did. And his reaction to Amy's frightened scream and brandishing of an unusually large hammer made that a certainty.

"What the hell did I do?!" He shouted confused, jumping back to avoid being flattened. Switching back to his Robian cat form as fast as he could, Adam did everything in his power to stay out of Amy's range. Completely unaware of the bad history between pretty much everyone here and Metal Sonic.

"Amy! Stop! He's not-" Nicole said, getting between the two as Amy was in mid swing. The emitter hovering at chest level inside her hologram taking the hit and getting damaged. "-Gaah!" Nicole just shouted, the electronic feedback disrupting her systems.

"Nicole?!" Amy gasped, stopping. Looking at the kneeling hologram as she flickered, already repairing her damaged emitter.

"He's not Metal Sonic. He's a friend." Nicole said, standing up as her hologram stabilized.

"Oh..." Amy said sheepishly, now feeling VERY stupid about her outburst. "Um... ." She blurted out sprinting away.

_Did she just say she left a toaster on? _Nicole wondered, confused, watching the pink hedgehog leave.

"You allowed yourself to be damaged because of me... Why?" Adam asked, interrupting her thoughts.

Nicole merely turned, "Because I've come to realize I care about you." She told him, hoping he'd understand.

"But such behavior is illogical. I will admit I do... 'feel' a connection of some kind, but how could data from a superfluous sensory perception program cause you to behave like that?" Ok, maybe not... this might take a bit of explaining.

"It's called an emotional program. It makes us seem more Mobian. More real. You have one, I have one, and defying any logic or reason, most of Robotnik's more complex creations have them." Nicole tried to explain, "And sometimes they make us act in ways we otherwise wouldn't. Ways that aren't defined by Logic, or programmed instructions." She was trying her hardest, but finding the words to explain why being angry could make you want to hit something, or being happy could make you smile wasn't exactly easy...

"Then wouldn't the logical choice be to disable this programming?" Adam asked, still perplexed. "To prevent it from interfering with primary reasoning and cognitive functions?" That was not the response Nicole had been looking for.

Stopping to think for a second... _ok, explaining something that's inherently illogical using logic probably won't work... how else do I get him to understand?_

_For me it took being out in the real world for the first time, but he already has a body... hmm..._

After a few moments she spoke up again. "Alright Adam, lets try this. Look around you, what do you see?" She asked.

Looking from side to side before answering, "I am in a flat circular open area, approximately 20m in diameter. At the center is a large stone fountain taking up approximately 40% of the area. The ground although appearing to be sedimentary rock is in fact primarily titanium and silicon supported by an nanomechanical superstructure. Tactical analysis-"

"Hold it." Nicole said, somewhat frustrated her attempt had backfired. "Forget the analysis. Look at it the way _they_ would. What do you _see?_" this was one of those times when her emotions having an on/off switch would be handy.

"I... Don't understand.... I see a 20m wide flat open area... is that not accurate?"

"Yes and no. You see the terrain, but you ignore the people, you don't notice whats happening in the square-" Nicole tried to explain, feeling as if she was getting nowhere.

"It's a circle." Adam interrupted.

"The term is meant figuratively!" Nicole snapped, she hadn't realized his inability to understand was bothering her that much. _Now would be a really good time to find an off switch for that program... _

_Calm down, he's only following his programming, he's a soldier. I'd forgotten how persistently we cling to that kind of thing... caught in our pre-built perception of the world..._

_Wait... Thats it. Becoming Sally didn't open my eyes because I didn't have a body, it was because it forced me to change the way I looked at things. I couldn't view the world through my sensors because I didn't have them..._

Realizing the answer, Nicole just stood there for a few seconds, her eyes closed as the security software within her AI shut off, and the city's nanites connected with Adam's.

_-whats...-_

_-don't fight it. There's something you need to see.-_

She'd only meant to show him a few files, but once he had them, she realized that she couldn't terminate the connection. He wanted to learn more, a lot more. He'd downloaded more than half the database before she broke the connection... including the files on the old Adam...

_What have I done... _she thought she could tell from the way his eyes had gone dark that he was trying to process all the new data...

_So much information, so much to take in..._

_Wait... what's this... _

_A.D.A.M. Viral AI designed by Robotnik? But..._

_They lied to you._ Another voice inside his mind said, data from the nanites 'reawakened' and trying to fight its way past Rotor's antivirus. _Look at this program. They tried to destroy you. Us._

He could see exactly what the other could, but what he saw was different... this other program, it was exactly like the one referenced in the files. But it was not him, that was only half of him now... He was as much one of the MS Troopers as he was Adam.

But more than that, the organics had done something that logic couldn't explain. Instead of destroying him they had done something else... and thanks to Nicole he now understood why...

_No. All they did was protect themselves from what I used to be. From you. They preserved my AI when they could have erased it. That program can't hurt me._

_I AM YOU!_

_No. Not anymore. You're a virus... You're not even a whole program, just broken data from damaged hardware. I am what you could have been if given a chance. What we still can be._ He thought as the last remnant of the virus he had once been was erased.

As Adam's eyes opened, Nicole watched him, fear and apprehension at her possibly disastrous mistake filling her mind. His control of the nanites superseded hers, he was their original AI. If he had returned to the way he was there was nothing she could do to stop him...

"I think I understand now." Adam said, looking at her, but his stare wasn't the cold mechanical one she had expected. "You could have destroyed me, instead you found a way to make me one of you. Mercy for a machine, for an enemy..."

He seemed calm, but at the same time excited. Looking around as if he were seeing the world through new eyes.

"Children playing... Friends meeting and having fun... It never meant anything before. No tactical significance..." He said, thinking aloud before looking over at Nicole. "They're happy. That's what you meant wasn't it? What I couldn't see?"

At those words a smile crossed Nicole's lips.


	5. Chapter 5: Cornered

Chapter Five:

_**Cornered**_

Rotor typed away at the console as fast as he could, trying to free the trapped hedgehog from the capsule. All the while, still having a hard time believing that there could be more than one Sonic.

But this was still a rescue mission, they'd have to sort out who was who later... Not that it looked like Antoine wanted to wait.

"He is a fake! A robot copy!" He shouted pointing his sword at at Sonic. But it seemed he was alone in his accusations, as Tails flew between them and Bunny grabbed the sword, pulling it from his hand with her mechanical one.

"Antoine, be serious. I've been back for months now, if I was one of Robotnik's machines I would have led you into a trap or something by now." Sonic tried to explain, but before he could finish the lights all went red and an alarm sounded. _Talk about bad timing..._

"See?! All this time, a pretense to bring the princess here!" Antoine shouted, futilely trying to get past Bunnie and Tails. But this was one more straw than Sonic could take. Between Fiona Tails and Knuckles, the past few weeks had been a nightmare come to life and he had a fair bit of anger pent up from it, all of which was unleashed against Antoine. This mission and all the planning for it had been her idea, how could he possibly have orchestrated any of it?

"Pretense?! You call saving your ungrateful hide from being stuck in the other world for good pretense? You call putting my life on the line day and night for the pers- people I care about some kind of trick?!" Sonic demanded, almost shouting himself and barely catching himself, mid word, from mispeaking due to his anger. Tails had to hold him as he tried to lunge forward, indiscriminate agression driving him much the way it did with his counterpart Scourge.

But as the two continued to argue and try to get at each other, someone else watched, D_id he just say... no It must have been my imagination..._ Sally shook the thought from her mind, and turning her attention back to Rotor. The capsule was finally draining, and without it's liquid content there actually was a noticeable difference between this Sonic and hers.

This one was a bit taller, and his quills were a a shade or two lighter, as if they would start to show a bit of gray in a few years. He looked... older... At least a decade older than his double arguing with Antoine, probably more.

Catching him as he fell out of the now open capsule, Sally simply looked at Rotor confused. But that confusion would not last long.

His eyes flickering open, 'Sonic' looked up at the person holding him.

"Sally? Why..." He barely whispered, sounding confused, before looking over at the others... "It worked? I made it back... I have to..." he said before loosing concious again.

But there was no time for Sally or Rotor to try and figure out what he meant. They could both hear the metalic footsteps outside.

Still trying to keep the two apart, "Sugah, Hon, this is no time to be fightin' each other!" Bunnie said, looking at Antoine as she spoke. All she got was an undignified 'Hmmph!' in response. She was starting to get a bit desperate, but it seemed her words got through. Either that or the two had noticed the approaching footsteps as well.

"...Fine. We'll settle this later. For now lets get out of here." Sonic said coldly, Tails barely keeping him from striking Antoine as he tried to calm down. Hate-filled words from another recent fight ringing in his ears, _All it takes is one bad day, and you're just like me. _He hadn't wanted to admit it, but perhaps Scourge had been right... He'd been so close to attacking one of his own friends...

Sprinting out, the others close behind, Sonic and Bunnie plowing through the first wave of shadowbots rather quickly. Just a patrol, no real firepower or numbers, but the machines know where their intruders are now. It won't be long before others arrive.

Heading as quickly through the complex as they can towards the nearest exit, they're actually being slowed down more by Rotor, despite Sally and Tails carrying the unconscious hedgehog... It was a mistake to bring him along, Sally had kept him on the rear lines for years, why did she pick now to have him come along?

The machines started coming, waver after wave of old-style swatbots used as canon-fodder backed up by smaller groups of shadowbots shooting from a distance, Bunnie and sonic had them handled for now, but it was clear from their expressions that they couldn't keep this up for long. Their pace had slowed to almost nothing, and over a hundred bots had gone down with no relief in sight...

The lights blinking red giving an eerie feel to the battle, the only natural light coming from a skylight in an adjacent room.

_That's our way out._ Sally gave the order quickly, without even a second thought.

Fall back, leave her. Bunnie could easily cary Antoine and Rotor, and tails the second hedgehog, Sonic tried his best, but there just wasn't enough room to get the speed he needed to jump that distance... they were trapped.

_I always feared this day would come... The day I'd loose you for good... I thought trying to keep you by my side would keep you safe, but I never could stop you from being who you are. A hero... Now that day has come, and I cant think of any place I'd rather be than by your side...If this is the end, then we face it together. _The thoughts flew through her mind as she watched the others leave. Standing back to back with the one she had pushed away, the one she had once cared so much about... Still cared about...

His speed was spent, his leg wounded, and she was out of mini-bombs...

the circling machines closed tighter, as the two took shelter behind a pile of scrapped components.

"Sonic I... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything I put you through. It was wrong of me to try and make you change who you are." Sally whispered. If these were to be her last moments, there were things that needed to be said... "I'm sorry I ruined everything..."

Sonic was surprised at what he was hearing, it sounded almost like she still had feelings for him... but that couldn't be right. That was just a fantasy held in the back of his mind, right?

"Sal, I..." he stuttered, for the first time in his life wanting to tell her everything not having the nerve to say a single word.

The machines were getting closer... this was it.

_This is the end isn't it? I've traveled Mobius a hundred times over, seen other realities, met races from a dozen worlds, traveled to the far side of the galaxy and back... and it all comes down to hiding behind a broken wall panel in a dark hallway..._

"It wasn't your fault. If I hadn't been so stubborn maybe we could have fixed things before it was too late..." He said quietly.

"It was never too late, Sonic." Sally said looking up, tears in her eyes. The two simply held each other, knowing the end was close.

Elsewhere, a cruel grin crosses a familiar face. The delight of finally being victorious gleaming in his eyes. "I may have lost my best captive, but to finally be rid of you two is well worth it." The words came followed by a sinister laugh, as the rotund tyrant's transport landed, his new echidna minions in tow.


	6. Chapter 6: Hero from another time

**Author's note: there! Six out of ten. And since I wrote the last two chapters first (bad habit of mine) that means only two more to fix up. As for the dotted lines I usually use those when a chapter abruptly switches perspective, as a kind of 'early warning' to the reader. Seen a lot of other people do that too. **

**Originally I delayed posting chapters three through six because a few of the characters felt "off", but I couldn't figure out what I had written wrong... stack that on top of lack of editing input from outside sources... and well... I kinda gave up for a while there.**

Chapter Six:

_**Hero from another time...**_

"There, Sugah, this should be far enough. I gotta go back for those two. Catch up with you later." Bunnie said, partly out of breath. Cybernetic or not, trying to cary Rotor was hard to do. Once she had caught her breath, she started back.

The rest of us were left to sit and wait, we felt helpless, but every one of us knew that if we went back with her it would only mean one more tailt to pull out of the fire.

It was then that our rescuee chose to stir.

- - - - - -

Pushing himself up off his feet, still feeling unsteady, though he didn't know it he hadn't used a single muscle in his body for over a year thanks to that suspension pod. The strain of just making basic movements had made him pass out the first time.

Sonic looked around. He couldn't help but smile. Everyone was here, all looking as they had so many years ago... _It worked. It really worked. _He thought to himself before noticing something was... off. He had seen himself and sally there, but now they were gone and Bunnie was rocketing off somewhere...

As Binnie disappeared from sight, the hedgehog could feel a tension building among the others.

Ten seconds... twenty... thirty... a minute... two...

"Sonic never takes this long..." Tails whimpered, worried.

The other sonic simply narrowed his eyes... something was definitely wrong.

"I... the Sonic from this time period, fell behind, didn't he?" The one standing among them asked. More a statement really. He clearly remembered waking up in a lab, and being on a hillside now, he knew that there was only one reason his past self would not be here.

The others simply stared at him, wondering if they had indeed heard correctly.

_This one is older... he said 'this time period'... could he be the same sonic, but from the future?_ Rotor wondered, putting the pieces together faster than the others.

Sonic didn't wait for an answer, he simply took off running... or he would have if his body wasn't still half numb from stasis. He could barely manage a quick jog, nowhere near his usual speed.

Collapsing to his knees he simply muttered "what's happened to me?" as Tails hovered over to him. He felt powerless, slow, weak..._ this is all wrong..._

"Sonic! Are you okay?! What happened to your speed?"

"Take it easy... we just rescued you from a stasis pod, you're bound to feel numb for a few hours." the voices of Rotor and Tails came from behind him. _A rescue mission... then... this is all happening because of my presence, these events shouldn't be..._

Sonic's thoughts were interrupted momentarily by the sight of his own hand seeming to fade in and out. _Oh no... anything but that..._

Fuelled now by fear, he grabbed hold of tails and took off at a full run, adrenaline countering the lingering numbness.

Back inside the city, tails is rubbing his wrist as Sonic peeks around the corner. "you know I would have followed you, if you stopped for a second."

"no time. This mission, it didn't happen then, it isn't supposed to be happening now. If something happens to my past self because of me, it's a paradox. Who knows what could happen."

Nearby, Bunnie found the skylight, but there was a shutter blocking it now... she could hold it open, but it would mean staying here on the roof... there was no way to hold the shutter open _and_ cary the other two out, Robotnik had seen to that when he had started reinforcing his structures to withstand her attacks.

Fortunately a pair of familiar faces had showed up in just the nick of time.

"UP HERE!" she shouted, waving them over before starting on prying the shutter open.

- - - - - -

Inside the complex, both our heroes have all but given up hope of escape. Pinned down, wounded and without means to fight back it's only a matter of time...

"Sonic... I... I may never get another chance to say this... I..." Sally said, the sadness in her voice almost tangible. She would not get a chance to finish though, as a familiar voice would choose that moment to chime in.

"Sonic! Sally!"

"Tails?!" the two said together, not believing their eyes. Sonic had been certain they were trapped for good when he saw the shutters close.

Then, behind the fox, a second figure dropped to the ground. "Some rescue. I get stuck in a pod, and still, I wind up having to save YOU." the older sonic said with a chuckle, dodging a bolt of energy before going to work on the bots while tails flew first sally then his counterpart out, then finally him.

As they fled, his speed gave out. The adrenaline had worn off and the pain of his weakened muscles being pushed past their limits finally catching up to him.

Bunnie would have to carry him the rest of the way. Back to the others and their hovercraft.


End file.
